The Minister of Public Health, Her Excellency Dr. Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari, was a guest of honor and keynote speaker on the first day of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s (NASEM) webinar: ‘Towards a Post-Pandemic World – Lessons from COVID-19 for Now and the Future’.

The opening day of the webinar featured two keynote addresses, with H.E. Dr. Al Kuwari, delivering her keynote address under the theme ‘A Blueprint for a Whole-of-Society Approach to Health Care’ following an address titled ‘A Vision for the Future’ by former New Zealand Prime Minister, Rt Helen Clark.

Her Excellency Dr. Al-Kuwari stressed the importance of collaborative work, which represents an integrative governmental approach based on the principles of science and comprehensive healthcare as an essential element to meet a challenge of the magnitude of the COVID-19 pandemic and address the social factors associated with it.

In her speech, Her Excellency pointed out that the availability of an integrated, strong and well-prepared health system for emergencies, in addition to the good management of this system during the crisis, helped save many lives and keep the death rate low, in addition to keeping the country’s economy as active as possible.

His Excellency expressed her confidence that health systems in some countries can become more resilient and stronger after this pandemic and the enormous challenges associated with it, by learning from the lessons learned during the pandemic and building future strategies and plans on them.

And she indicated that by harnessing our collective experiences gained during this pandemic, we can ensure that our health systems are well prepared for future challenges and are able to detect future health crises early, to avoid a state of paralysis in societies and ensure recovery from these health crises quickly and safely.

Presentations during the four-day webinar, which runs from 21 to 24 September, examine responses to COVID-19 in the United States and abroad and featured discussions on the impacts of the pandemic on human health and society.

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NASEM is a group of United States independent, nonprofit institutions providing science, technology and health policy advice, and consists of three academies – the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and National Academy of Medicine.

Source: Ministry of Public Health